Translators:

Adeline Luarez, Ph.D.Kinder

Fay Luarez, Ph.D.Grade 1

Rosario CasilaganGrade 2

Fe E. Magale, Ph.D.Grade 3

MOTHER TONGUE:Sinugbuanong Binisaya Grade 1 to Grade 3

Mother Tongue Based Multilingual Education is education, formal or non-formal, in which the learner’s mother tongue and additional languages are used in the classroom. Learners begin their education in the language they understand best—their mother tongue—and develop a strong foundation in their mother language before adding additional languages. Research stresses the fact that children with a solid foundation in their mother tongue develop stronger literacy abilities in the school language. Their knowledge and skills transfer across languages. This bridge enables the learners to use both or all their languages for success in school and for lifelong learning. In terms of cognitive development, the school activities will engage learners to move well beyond th basic wh-questions to cover all higher order thinking skills in L1 which they can transfer to the other languages once enough Filipino or English has been acquired to use these skills in thinking and articulating thoughts.

With the nd goal of making Filipino children lifelong learners in their Li (MT), L2 (Filipino, the national language), and L3 (English, the global language) the learners are more thatn prepared to develop the competencies in the different learning areas. This will serve as their passport to enter and achieve well in the mainstream educational system and in the end, contribute productively to their community and to the larger society as well as Multilingual, Multiliterate, and Multi-Cultural Citizens of the country.

For the effective implementation of the MTB-MLE, it is suggested that the two-track method be used, that is the primer track to focus on accuracy and the story track to focus on meaning. Learning via the two-track method to gain proficiency in leteracy as well as comprehend academic content and gain curriculum mastery, creative and critical thinking skills for decisive decision-making.

MTBMLE provides:

Literacy. We only learn to read once. Learning to read in the L1 develops skills that transfer to reading any other languages. Comprehension in reading other languages only occurs after oral proficiency has developed such that vocabulary of the written L2 text is already part of the learners’ spoken vocabulary.

Prior knowledge. Engaging learners in a discussion of what is already familiar to them using the home language and culture enables better learning of the curriculum through integration and application of that knowledge into current knowledge schemes.

Cognitive development and higher order thinking skills (HOTS). Using the learners’ mother tongue provides a strong foundation by developing cognitive skills and comprehension of the academic content from day one. The knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values gained through the mother tongue better support learning of other languages and learning through other languages later.

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